Interesting Facts about the Numbat

The numbat is also referred to as the “banded anteater.” It is a marsupial, and it lives in the western areas of Australia. The numbat lives on termites and eats almost nothing else. Because it is considered to be an endangered species, the numbat is protected by conservation programs in Australia.

Did you know?

The numbat is able to chew, but it normally does not, since all it eats are small termites. It even has teeth that it does not use.

Like anteaters, the numbat has a long and sticky tongue, which allows them to pick up as many termites as they can when it’s time to eat.

The numbat finds termite mounds by using its sense of smell to sniff them out.

Today, you can only really find numbats in eucalyptus forests, but they used to be more common in woodland areas, grasslands, and areas where a large amount of sand dunes were present.

Because numbats only eat insects, specifically termites, they are known as “insectivores.” Adult numbats must eat 20,000 termites each day to have a satisfying diet! So, it probably goes without saying that the numbat spends most of its day searching for more termites to eat. Sometimes, a numbat will eat ants, but it is probably by accident when they are actually trying to pick up termites.